Most courses at Aston are made up of modules of study. Modules are assessed using different assessment methods such as exams (sometimes called class tests) practicals, presentations and coursework. The marks from your assessments are used for your module mark. You may receive marks and feedback for assessments from your tutors throughout the year but these marks are not formal until they have been considered by an Exam Board. For undergraduate students, this normally happens at the end of the academic year. For postgraduate students it is a little more complicated and will depend on your course but an Exam Board might meet at the end of every term or teaching period.

When the Exam Board meets, it will consider all of your results and decide whether or not you have passed and if you can progress to the next stage of your course. If you have not passed, then the Exam Board will decide whether or not you can resit any failed assessments and how and when they want you to resit.

The University has regulations for undergraduate and postgraduate students and special regulations for some courses which they use to make their decisions. Some of the phrases and names Exam Boards use can be confusing so here are some explanations of the ones most commonly used:

Condonement/Compensation. Sometimes an Exam Board can allow you to pass a module even if you haven’t got enough marks. This will depend on circumstances such as your other results and what mark you got for the module you have failed. Undergraduate students can only have a maximum of 40 credits condoned/compensated per year.

Credits and Modules. Taught courses are made up of credits. Passing modules get you the credits you need for your course. For example, an undergraduate degree has 120 credits per year. Most undergraduate degrees have 12 modules per year which each count as 10 credits.

Glossary

Term

Explanation

Deferred Exam

This is when an exam is delayed until the next exam period

Exam Periods

There are set exam periods for your course. For undergraduate students these are normally in January and May/June. Resits happen in at the end of August or very early September. Exam periods for postgraduate students are different for each course.

Exceptional Circumstances

Unexpected events or problems which affect your ability to study

Pass Mark

Every course has a mark you must achieve to pass an assessment and module. For the majority of undergraduate modules the pass mark is 40%. For the majority of taught postgraduate modules the pass mark is 50%. There are special rules for some modules and some courses.

Referred Assessment

An assessment you retake that same year without any extra lectures or tutorials. For undergraduate students, referred assessments are taken during August/September. Postgraduate students take referred assessments at different times and it depends on the course. The maximum mark you can achieve in a Referred assessment is the pass mark.

Repeat assessment

An assessment you take in the following year. The Exam Board will decide if you need to attend the module for this assessment or not. The maximum mark you can achieve in a Repeat assessment is the pass mark.

Restart Year(Undergraduate students only)

This is when an Exam Board asks you to retake a complete year again (including any modules you may have already passed). Your marks for your modules will not be limited to the pass mark. Your previous attempts at these modules will still be counted as a failed attempt.

Your school can consider any Exceptional Circumstances which have affected your studies. Exceptional Circumstances are events or problems which you did not expect and which stop you being able to perform to the best of your abilities in your studies. For example, bereavement, unexpected personal or family problems or illness might be considered as an exceptional circumstance. Long term problems such as ongoing financial difficulties or ongoing health problems may not be accepted as an exceptional circumstance. If you have long term problems which affect your studies you should always let your school know. You may be able to access some additional support from the University’s Disability Team (DANU). You may also wish to think about taking a Leave of Absence from your course.

If you have Exceptional Circumstances you need to complete an Exceptional Circumstances and Absence form. These are available from your School, Blackboard or The Hub. You will need to include supporting evidence wherever possible. You need to hand your form into your School office (don’t forget to check the deadline!) The Exceptional Circumstances and Absence Panel will consider your form and decide whether or not to accept your Exceptional Circumstances. If your Exceptional Circumstances are accepted, then the Exam Board will be able to take this into account when considering your results.

It is your choice whether or not you attend an exam. If you attend an exam then you are saying to the University that you are fit and well enough to take the Exam. If you are unable to sit an exam then you must tell your school as soon as possible. You will also need to complete an Exceptional Circumstances and Absence form to explain what happened (see above). If your Exceptional Circumstances are accepted, then you might be allowed to defer your exams to the next appropriate exam period. When this will be may depend on how many exams you have to take and when the exams for these modules take place. You may not be able to start the next stage of your course until you have completed and passed these exams.

Penalties are normally applied to coursework which is handed in late. The later you submit your work, the more marks you will lose. If your coursework is very late you may not get any marks at all! If there have been unexpected problems or issues which have caused you to submit your coursework late then you should complete and Exceptional Circumstances and Absence form (see above). If your Exceptional Circumstances are accepted, then the Exam Board may consider waiving (ignoring) the late penalty for your late coursework.

If you are undergraduate student and not in your final year then you can normally be allowed a maximum of 3 attempts to pass a module. If you are a final year undergraduate student or you are a postgraduate student on a taught programme, you can normally be allowed a maximum of 2 attempts to pass a module. Undergraduate (and some postgraduate) students cannot normally progress to the next stage until you have passed your earlier modules.

Undergraduate Students

Your situation

Possible consequences

Failure at 1st attempt

If you fail a maximum of 40 credits you may be offered referred assessments.

If you fail more than 40 credits (and you do not have Exceptional Circumstances) you may be asked to repeat your modules or to maybe to restart the year.

If you have Exceptional Circumstances and you have failed a maximum of 60 credits then you may be offered referred assessments.

If you fail very badly you may be asked to leave your course

Failure at 2nd attempt

If you fail referred assessments then you may be asked to repeat the modules with or without attendance in the next year.

If you fail repeat modules then you could be asked to retake them in the referred exam period (as a last attempt).

If you fail modules in your restart year then you may be asked to retake them in the referred exam period.

In all cases, if your results are very bad then you may be asked to leave the course. Sometimes you can be allowed to continue you studies but on an Ordinary degree which does not have Honours.

Failure at 3rd attempt

If you fail your modules at your third attempt you will be asked to leave your course. Sometimes you can be allowed to continue you studies but on an Ordinary degree which does not have Honours.

Failing in your final year

If you fail final year modules you may be allowed to repeat your modules with or without attendance. There are no referred assessments for the majority of courses (although there are some exceptions).

If you fail for the second time you may be offered a Pass degree (which is not the same standard as an honours degree)

Postgraduate Students

The rules for postgraduate students are more complicated and can be different for different courses. Please contact your school for further information or book an appointment with one of our advisers by contacting The Hub on 0121 204 4007.

If your results are very poor then the Exam Board may be concerned that you cannot continue with your course. If you are an undergraduate student, you may be asked to withdraw. If you are a postgraduate student you may be asked to withdraw or you may be awarded a lower qualification. You have the right to respond to this before the Exam Board makes its final decision. You can do this in writing and/or by attending a meeting with the Exam Board. Staff at the Advice & Representation Centre in the Students’ Guild can help you write your representations and can often go to the Exam Board meeting with you. You can contact the Advice & Representation Centre on 0121 204 4848 or by email at arc@aston.ac.uk.

If you have received an Exam Board decision and are unhappy with the outcome then you may wish to make an Academic Appeal. You have 14 days (including Saturday and Sunday) from the date you received the Exam Board decision to appeal. To make a successful appeal, you must have grounds in one or more of these areas:

Your performance was adversely affected by illness or other specific factors and that you had valid reasons for not submitting them to the Exam Board at the correct time,

An administrative or material error has affected the assessments, or

Assessment procedures were not conducted within regulations.

It is not possible to appeal against the academic judgement of examiners and if your appeal is solely on this basis, it will not succeed. Staff at the Advice & Representation Centre in the Students’ Guild can help you with your Academic Appeal You can contact the Advice & Representation Centre on 0121 204 4848 or by email at arc@aston.ac.uk.

It depends on what course you are studying and what the Exam Board has decided it wants you to do. You do not normally need to pay extra for exams or assessments taken during the referred exam period.

If you are an undergraduate student repeating with attendance then you will normally only pay for the modules you are repeating. You can calculate this by dividing your annual tuition fee by 12 (the number of modules you would take in a normal year.) This will give you the cost for one module. You then need to multiply this by the number of modules you are repeating (remember 20 credit modules count as 2 modules.)

If you an undergraduate student repeating without attendance then you will normally only have to pay the cost of one module. You can calculate this by dividing your annual tuition fee by 12 (the number of modules you would take in a normal year.)

For postgraduate students it is a little more complicated and may depend on the course you are studying. You may find that you do not need to pay fees for your repeat studies but you should contact your school for further information.

If you qualify for an Aston Bursary then the amount you receive will be based on the number of modules you are repeating. If you cannot get a Maintenance Grant through Student Finance England then you will not qualify for an Aston Bursary.

You must tell SFE that you will be repeating your studies. You can do this by logging into your online account with SFE and making changes to your course details. An adviser in The Hub Advice Zone can help you with this and you can arrange an appointment by calling 0121 204 4007.

If you will be repeating your studies without attendance then you will not be able to receive grants and loans during your repeat year. You may be able to find some part time work but most students are not able to claim benefits during this time.

If you are repeating with attendance then you may be able to receive grants and loans. All students who can access student funding from the UK government can normally receive funding for the ordinary length of their course plus one extra year. Any years that you have previously studied at Aston or elsewhere or any repeat years of study are taken into account and can reduce the number of years you can be funded for. Even if you have only attended 1 day, it is counted as a whole year.

If it will now only take you one year longer than normal to complete your studies, you will use up your extra year of funding. If you have already had to repeat a year or if you have previously studied at another university then you then you may find that you cannot get help with your tuition fees or the grant for part of your course. This will be applied to the earlier years of your course and your funding entitlement will be saved for the later years of your course. Exceptions can be made for students who have compelling personal reasons for needing to repeat their studies.

If you are in the UK with a student visa then missing exams or assessments or failing and repeating your studies can have serious implications and you should seek advice from one of our International Student Advisers. Aston University has to monitor your attendance and progress and may be obliged to report any problems to the UK Border Agency. It is very important that you contact your school to explain why you cannot attend an exam or submit an assessment. If you have failed and it will now take longer for you to complete your studies then you may need to extend your student visa. You can contact an International Student Adviser on 0121 204 4567 or by calling The Hub Advice Zone on 0121 204 4007.

It is sometimes possible to change your course to study another course at Aston. This can depend on whether you have the right grades for entry onto the course, the progress you have made on your existing course so far and if there is space for you on the new course. You need to start by deciding what course you would like to study and then contacting the admissions staff to see if they can offer you a place. It is not normally possible to change your course part way through the year and you may have to wait until the start of the next academic year to start your new course.

You would normally need to apply for your new course through UCAS and it is not normally possible for you to start your new course at your new University part way through the year. You will probably find that you will need to wait until the start of the next academic year to start your new course.

If you do not want to continue to study at Aston then you will need to confirm this by writing to your School of Study. If you are a UK or EU funded student then you will need to tell Student Finance England (SFE) (or Student Finance Services for EU students) that you have left your studies. You can do this using a change of circumstances form (CO1) which is available on the SFE website and also from the Hub. Click here to download the form CO1.

If you will no longer be an Aston student then you cannot continue to live in Aston University accommodation. You need to go to the Accommodation Office in Stafford Tower and take evidence that you are leaving Aston. Once you have returned your keys, your accommodation fees will be reassessed. You can request any refund you are due through MAP.

You will normally have to pay tuition fees for the part of the year you have already attended at Aston. There are different ways in which the amount of fees you have to pay is calculated as it is depends on whether you are a Home, EU or International student and whether you are studying an Undergraduate or Postgraduate course. Once your transfer or withdrawal has been processed, your tuition fees will be reassessed by the University. International students and Postgraduate students will be reassessed on a pro rata basis. Home/EU students will be reassessed using deadlines which are published on the University’s website. If this means that you have paid too much in tuition fees then you can request a refund through MAP.

Your tuition fee loan should still be paid to the University. However, the amount that is paid may change after Student Finance England (SFE) has been notified about you leaving your course. Depending on what time in the academic year you stop attending University, SFE may just pay the reassessed amount of tuition fees to the University or it may still pay the original full amount. If too much money is paid to the University then you can request a refund through MAP. The refund will be paid to you and then you will need to decide whether to pay it to SFE or keep it to use in the future.

You must tell SFE as soon as possible if you will no longer be studying this year or if you change course and/or University. You can do this using a change of circumstances form (CO1) which is available on the SFE website and also from the Hub. Click here to download the form CO1.

Once SFE receives additional confirmation from the University, they will reassess your funding entitlement for the year. You would not normally be asked to repay any money you receive from student loans until after you have finished your studies. If you are withdrawing from your course and will be working then you will be asked to start repaying your loans from the April after your withdrawal unless you are earning insufficient money. Your grants will also be reassessed and you may find that you have been overpaid. If you will be continuing with your studies then this overpayment can be taken off any grant payments you are entitled to receive in the future. If you will no longer be a student then you may be asked to make arrangements to repay any overpayment.

All students who can access student funding from the UK government can normally receive funding for the ordinary length of their course plus one extra year. Any years that you have previously studied at Aston or elsewhere or any repeat years of study are taken into account and can reduce the number of years you can be funded for. Even if you have only attended 1 day, it is counted as a whole year.

If it will only take one year longer to complete your studies then you will just use up your extra year of funding. If it is going to take more than one year longer to complete your studies or if you have already used your extra year’s funding, then you may find that you cannot get help with your tuition fees or the grant for part of your course. This will be applied to the earlier years of your course and your funding entitlement will be saved for the later years of your course. Exceptions can be made for students who have compelling personal reasons for taking longer to complete their studies.

The years that you have previously studied at Aston (and any other Universities) will be taken into account when your funding entitlement for your future course is assessed. If you have more than one year previous study then you may find that you cannot get help with your tuition fees or the grant for part of your course. This will be applied to the earlier years of your course and your funding entitlement will be saved for the later years of your course. Exceptions can be made for students who have compelling personal reasons for taking longer to complete their studies.

You will become liable to repay your student loans in the April after you complete your studies. This means that if you withdraw from University before April, then you may be liable to start making repayments in just a few months time. Remember that you only have to repay your student loans when you income is above £15,000 per year and if you are not earning that much then can defer your repayments. You can also defer your repayments if you decide return to your studies and start a new course.

you are thinking of changing course or leaving university and you are in the UK with a student visa then you should seek advice from one of our International Student Advisers in the International Student Support Unit. Any changes you make to your planned studies can have serious implications for your visa and Aston University may be obliged to report these changes to the UK Border Agency. If you will no longer be studying at Aston University then your current visa may no longer be valid. If you are changing course at Aston and it will now take longer for you to complete your studies then you may need to extend your student visa. You can contact the ISSU on 0121 204 4567 or by calling into The Hub or click here for ISSU.

We understand that sometimes, full time students have to take a break from their studies. This could be because you are unwell, or because you have financial difficulties or for other personal reasons. Aston students in situations like this can suspend their studies be asking for a Leave of Absence. A Leave of Absence can technically be given for up to 2 years but is most commonly given for one academic year.

You will need to speak to your School. You will be asked to complete an Exceptional Circumstances and Absence Form (which you can either get from your School, or from The Hub ). In most cases, your School will be able to give you an informal decision quite quickly but your form will have to be passed to the Exceptional Circumstances and Absences Panel to be formally approved. Check with your School to see when the Panel meets and make sure your application is submitted on time.

You need to discuss the period you wish to take as your Leave of Absence with your School The exact length of time will depend on how far into the academic year or term/teaching period you are and whether you will need to return in less than one year if you need to repeat part of your studies.

You do not have to pay tuition fees whilst taking a Leave of Absence but you may have to pay tuition fees for the part of the year you have attended. There are different ways in which the amount of fees you have to pay is calculated as it is depends on whether you are a Home, EU or International student and whether you are studying an Undergraduate or Postgraduate course. Once your Leave of Absence has been approved, your tuition fees will be reassessed by the University.

International students and Postgraduate students will be reassessed on a pro rata basis. Home/EU students will be reassessed using deadlines which are published on the University’s website. If this means that you have overpaid tuition fees, you can request a refund through MAP.

Your tuition fee loan should still be paid to the University. However, the amount that is paid may change after Student Finance England (SFE) has been notified of your Leave of Absence. Depending on what date in the academic year you stop attending University, SFE may just pay the reassessed amount of tuition fees to the University or it may still pay the original full amount. If too much money is paid to the University then you can request a refund through MAP. The refund will be repaid to you, not to SFE and you will need to decide whether to repay SFE there and then or whether to save the money for future use.

You must tell SFE as soon as possible if you take a Leave of Absence. You can do this using a change of circumstances form (CO1) which is available on the SFE website and also from the Hub. Click here to download the form CO1. Your funding entitlement will then be reassessed

Any absence of up to 60 days should be disregarded and you can still receive funding during this time. This means that if your Leave of Absence will last no more than 60 days, you should be able to continue to receive student funding as normal.

SFE also has discretion to consider student circumstances and may decide that all or part of the financial support is still payable. Most students do not receive funding whilst during a Leave of Absence.

Once SFE receives notification that you are taking a Leave of Absence, they will reassess your funding entitlement for the year. You would not normally be asked to repay any money you receive from student loans until after you have finished your studies. Your grants will also be reassessed and you may find that you have been overpaid and this overpayment can be taken off any grant payments you are entitled to receive in the future.

You will normally be able to get student funding for your original course length such as a 4 year sandwich degree) plus one extra year. If taking a Leave of Absence will mean that it is going to take you a year longer to complete your studies, then you will use up this extra year. If you have already had to repeat some of your studies, have previously studied at another University or if you have to repeat in the future, then you may find that you cannot get help with your tuition fees or the Maintenance grant for a year of your course. Exceptions can be made to this for students who have compelling personal reasons for repeating their studies.

You need to be a full time student in attendance at Aston in order to live in Residences. You will need to ask your school to inform Residences that you have been granted a Leave of Absence and you will need to return your keys. Your accommodation fees will then be reassessed and you can request any refund due to you through MAP.

Most students cannot claim benefits whilst they are taking a Leave of Absence but there are some exceptions. If you have dependent children, have a disability or if you have been forced to suspend your studies because of ill health and have been given sick notes by your GP then you may qualify for Social Security Benefits. Please book an appointment to see our Student Adviser on 0121 204 4007 for further information.

Yes, you can submit an application to the Access to Learning Fund in the same way as any other Aston University student. Remember to explain your situation fully and provide supporting evidence where necessary.

Yes. If you are a final year student you are advised to check in case your name has accidentally been added to the list of students who will be finishing their course and can have their accounts deleted.

If you need to take a Leave of Absence and you are in the UK with a student visa, you should seek advice from one of our International Student Advisers in the International Student Support Unit. (ISSU click here) Suspending your studies can have very serious implications for your visa and the University will almost certainly have to report you to the UK Border Agency for not attending. This would mean that you have to leave the UK and would have to get a new visa to be able to return to your studies after your Leave of Absence. You can contact the ISSU on 0121 204 4567 or by calling into The Hub or click here for ISSU.